(NEW YORK)(January 28, 2010) Republican U. S. Senate candidate and insurgent “Internet Powerhouse” Andy Martin will throw down the gauntlet to Mark Kirk, Patrick Hughes and other Republican candidates at the Effingham County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner Thursday evening when he uses some of his allotted speaking time to say: “Tell Barack Obama to drop his efforts to repeal ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.’”

“One of the disclosures that came out of the recent controversy about my advertising involving Mark Kirk’s private life was the unanimous declaration by homosexual activists and media that Mark Kirk was ‘their guy,’ Martin says. “Well, is Kirk the ‘guy’ of the gay lobby? Republican primary voters have a right to know. On the eve of the Illinois primary, Barry Obama has thrown down the gauntlet. I propose that we throw it right back at him. There is no need to change the ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy. The policy strikes an appropriate balance between the right to privacy and the right to military unit cohesion and decorum. The last thing we need to do in the middle of a war is invite the gay lobby to start filing discrimination lawsuits against our men and women in uniform. Recruitment will suffer. A lot of parents are not going to want to send their kids into a gay-orchestrated military environment.

“Likewise, Patrick Hughes has been afraid to tackle the controversy over gay rights. Well here is Hughes’ chance to tell his supporters where he stands.

“I challenge Kirk and every other Republican to tell Obama ‘No: do not repeal ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.’’ I am sure the Associated Press reporter who covers Mark Kirk like a cheap blanket, Deanna Bellandi, can get the Kirkster on the phone. Let’s find out what the little critter has to say about his friend Obama’s latest ‘bomb.’ Let Kirk tell his admirers in the gay community he is against allowing gays to serve openly in the military.

“The issue is not homosexual rights. Homosexuals deserve the very same protection of the law as every other American. They are entitled to the same full protection of the law.

“Unlike Kirk, I do not have a military commission; but I do have an Honorable Discharge from the U. S. Air Force Reserves.

“But unlike Kirk, who fantasizes that he is the greatest ‘fighter’ since Genghis Khan, I have actually been in combat, in the jungle, and in many other precarious military situations. A war zone, a battlefield, a combat unit is no place for political correctness or sexual politics. Not even the kind of ‘fantasy’ war zones Kirk claims to be ‘fighting’ in.

“Obama is wrong. Conservative Republicans are right on this issue. Will Illinois Republicans stand up, despite the homosexual staff operating under State Chairman Pat Brady, with John McGovern acting as the Party’s de facto state executive director, and condemn repeal of ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell?’ I will pose that question Thursday evening in Effingham.

“Will Deanna Bellandi call Kirk to find out where he stands? Or is the Kirkster still in hiding? Republican primary voters want to know.”

“Of course, I have a ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ complaint pending against Kirk at the Navy Department. In a sense, Kirk has been boxed in by his own supporters and his own hypocrisy.”

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Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. He has over forty years of broadcasting background in radio and television and is the dean of Illinois media and communications. He is currently promoting his best-selling book, Obama: The Man Behind The Mask and producing the new Internet movie “Obama: The Hawai’i years.” Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of http://www.ContrarianCommentary.com.

Martin comments on regional, national and world events with more than four decades of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law and is a former adjunct professor of law at the City University of New York.

Andy’s columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com.
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